WHEN Clanfield Gulf War veteran Allen Parton was knocked out of his wheelchair by a speeding car, his incredible golden labrador Endal rushed to his rescue.

Amazingly Endal placed the badly shaken Allen in the recovery position, retrieved his mobile phone and rushed off to raise the alarm.

He refused to leave his side when he was taken to hospital in an ambulance and remained with him while he was treated.

Allen and Endal were in Birmingham where they had been invited to take part in the Crufts Dog Show, when the accident happened.

The pair have appeared on television all over the country demonstrating how specially trained dogs can help profoundly disabled people. This week, as they recovered from their ordeal at the Steep home of Canine Partners for Independence , the group who trained Endal, Allen praised his four legged companion: "We've given so many demonstrations on how Endal should go into action if I fall out of my wheelchair but last Thursday Endal did it for real "

They were returning to the Campanile Hotel across a car park when a Rover car suddenly appeared speeding towards them in reverse.

"Endal was on my right side as always because that is where I need the most help," Allen told The Herald.

"I realised he was between me and the car so I got hold of him and pushed him backwards out of the way."

Seconds later the car hit his chair and Allen was knocked out of it, crashing to the ground on his left side and ending up grazed and badly shaken.

"I was shocked and badly disorientated and then I realised I had turned on to my front and something was being pushed into my face."

Amazingly Endal had turned Allen into the recovery position. He had found Allen's mobile phone which had been thrown out of his lap in the accident and was thrusting it back at Allen.

"I told him to go and get help and he ran to the hotel doors barking, then he sped back, still barking, and carried on until people came out to help."

An ambulance was called and Allen was taken to hospital.

"The crew had to take Endal too because he would not leave me," Allen told The Herald.

"It was the first time they had had a dog in the amb ulance and they lowered the stretcher support so that Endal could see me. The medical staff could see he needed to be there to make sure I was all right."

The dog refused to leave his side at the hospital and remained with him while he was treated for grazes and bruising to his left side, hip and upper leg and grazing and bruises to his right elbow..

The pair were discharged in the early hours of Friday morning.

Endal himself was then examined by the Kennel Club's vets at Crufts the following day.

Allen, who served in the Falklands and the Gulf War, became confined to a wheelchair after an horrific car crash, during his service in the Gulf.

He lives with wife Sandra and two children at Clanfield and since teaming up with Endal, has become a great supporter and promoter of CPI of which he is now a trustee.

"I'm so relieved that we both escaped serious injury," he said this week. "There is a biblical misconception that guardian angels only have two legs - mine has four."

Despite the accident, the pair appeared as scheduled at Crufts, giving demonstrations of how "assistance" dogs play, and appearing on a dog food stand to meet Endal's fans from all over the country.

On Sunday evening they were interviewed for BBC television's Crufts coverage.

And on the final day of the show, Endal was officially presented with his Gold Kennel Club Good Citizen Award, the highest accolade a well- behaved dog can achieve in Britain.

Endal is believed to be the first ever assistance dog to receive the gold badge.

A police spokesman said they could not take the matter further as the incident happened on private land.

Endal was voted Dog of the Millennium by Dogs Today readers and Beta Pet Foods, Dog of the Year by the charities Pro Dogs and Pets As Therapy, and was the first ever winner of the Golden Bonio Award.